This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Swiss train crash: Head-on collision injures 35, driver feared dead

Rescue personnel work at the site where two passenger trains collided head-on in Granges-pres-Marnand, western Switzerland, Monday, July 29, 2013. (Laurent Gillieron / AP)

Rescuers stand on the site of a train accident on July 29, 2013 in Granges-pres-Marnand, western Switzerland. Two trains collided head-on, injuring 40 passengers, at least five of them seriously, police said. (ALAIN GROSCLAUDE / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

A rescue worker stands near two Swiss regional trains after a head-on collision near Granges-Pres-Marnand near Payerne in western Switzerland July 29, 2013. (DENIS BALIBOUSE / REUTERS)

Swiss rescue workers wheel a wounded person on a stretcher after two regional trains crashed head on near Granges-Pres-Marnand near Payerne in western Switzerland July 29, 2013. (DENIS BALIBOUSE / REUTERS)

A signal shows red light as a police officer works at the site where two passenger trains collided head-on in Granges-pres-Marnand, western Switzerland, Monday, July 29, 2013. (Laurent Gillieron / AP)

This handout picture provided by "24 heures/Tribune de Geneve" shows the site of a collision of two trains on July 29, 2013 in Granges-pres-Marnand, Western Switzerland. (HO / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

The driver of one of the trains was still unaccounted for and thought to be inside the wreckage, at Granges-près-Marnand in the canton of Vaud, police spokesman Jean-Christophe Sauterel said.

“These are regional trains. The speeds are a little lower and even if one deeply regrets the likely loss of life of one person as well as five serious injuries, the situation could have been much more catastrophic,” Sauterel said.

He said it was too early to try to ascertain the cause of the crash.

One of the injured was taken by helicopter to Lausanne. Others were treated on the spot by paramedics or taken to hospital by ambulance.

Article Continued Below

About 40 people were on the two trains, one of which was heading to Lausanne, the other was going to Payerne.

Seventy-nine people were killed in a train crash in Spain last week, one of the worst in decades.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com